Handle for golf clubs



Oct. 13, 1942. R. E. OTTMAN HANDLE FOR- GOLF' CLUBS,

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 10, 194;

RAYMOND E. OTTMAN INYENTOR I ATTORNEY Oct. 13, 1942.

R. E. OTTMAN 2,298,505

HANDLE FOR GOLF CLUBS Filed Feb. 10, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RAYMOND E. OTTMAN INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 13, 1942 UNITED STAT T OFFIE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved handle for golf clubs of a character generally known as putters.

It is generally agreed that the proper methods of holding a golf putter and of executing the putting stroke are entirely different from the methods correctly employed in holding other types of golf clubs and in executing other types of strokes. It is well known that proper alignment of the putter, and accurate control of the speed and direction of the putting stroke, can be more consistently obtained when the putter is grasped, and the stroke executed, in a manner which permits the muscles of the wrist and forearms to be completely relaxed at all times. Any tension in these muscles not only induces fatigue, which decreases the player's control, but creates a tendency on the part of the player to tighten his grip on the club and to rotate it out of proper alignment in executing the stroke. It also tends to make the player conscious of the grip and correspondingly distracts his attention from the stroke.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved grip for golf putters by virtue of which the hands of the player are brought naturally and more or less automatically into a fundamentally correct position, which practically compels the player to hold and swing the club with the wrist and forearm muscles relaxed and correspondingly prevents him from becoming conscious of his grip on the club. In other words, it permits the player to grasp the club loosely and yet maintain accurate control of the stroke.

An embodiment of the invention in a golf putter intended for use by a right-handed player is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the front face of a golf club embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the forward side of the club;

Figures 3, 4 and are sections taken respectively along lines 33, 4-4 and 5-5; and

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the front face of the handle showing the manner in which the club is grasped.

The golf putter illustrated comprises a shaft I having a head 2 at one end and a handle at the other. The handle is composed of an enlarged upper section 3, which is to be grasped by the upper hand, an enlarged lower section 4, which is to be grasped by the lower hand, and a reduced intermediate section 5.

It will be understood that the term upper hand designates the left and right hands of right and left-handed players respectively, while the term lower hand designates the right and left hands of right and lefthanded players respectively.

In accordance with my invention, the intermediate section 5 is reduced in cross-section to fit into the space between the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand so that the front and rear faces of the intermediate section provide gripping surfaces respectively for the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand, whereby the club may be pivotally held between said fingers and pivotally swung along a vertical plane passing between said front and rear faces. The term front face designates a surface facing in the direction in which the head 2 points, the rear face being a surface which faces in the opposite direction. The front and rear faces 5a of the intermediate section preferably are flattened somewhat to conform to the shape of the gripping portion of the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand.

The enlarged upper section of the handle is offset from the shaft and the lower section to extend upwardly in front of the vertical plane passing through the forward and rearward sides of the shaft. The forward side of the shaft is that side which faces in the direction of the line of flight, the rearward side naturally being the side which faces in the opposite direction. The upper section is shaped to fit the contour of the upper hand comfortably when the front and rear faces of the intermediate section are gripped between the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand and the hand closed. Ordinarily, this will result in the central portion of the upper section being more or less oval shaped in cross-section with its major plane forming, in combination with a vertical plane passing through the head of the club, an angle less than 45 on the forward side of the head. In the embodiment shown, this angle approximates 35.

The enlarged lower section of the handle may be fashioned to any suitable shape. Preferably, it is not only enlarged to a degree more or less intermediate that of the shaft and of theupper section of the handle, but its central portion is more or less oval shaped in cross-section with the major plane of the oval substantially at right angles to the line of flight. A good gripping contour is provided when the enlargements on the front and rear faces merge abruptly into the intermediate section and gradually into the shaft.

With a putter constructed in accordance with this invention, the head of the putter will naturally lie at right angles to the line of flight when the flattened front and rear faces of the intermediate section are gripped between the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand. It will remain in such position when the hand is easily or lightly closed in a natural manner about the upper section, and, with the club more or less loosely held in this manner, the muscles of the wrist and forearm necessarily remain in an untensioned completely relaxed state. The lower hand may be brought, in a natural manner, up to the rear side of the lower section and lightly closed about that section Without placing the muscles under tension. The stroke is executed by pivoting the club about the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand and also about the wrist of the upper hand while using the lower hand to efiect the pivotal movement of the club.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An improved handle for a golf club having a head and a shaft comprising: upper and lower hand gripping sections on the handle connected by an intermediate section, the upper section being offset relative to the lower section in the direction of extension of the club head, and the intermediate section being reduced in cross-section to fit into the space between the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand, the front and rear faces of the intermediate section providing gripping surfaces respectively for the fore and middle fingers of the upper hand, whereby the club may be pivotally held between said fingers.

2. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein: the central portion of the upper section is more or less oval in cross-section with its major vertical plane forming, in combination with a vertical plane passing through the head of the club, an angle less than 45 on the forward side of the head.

RAYMOND E. OTTMAN. 

